Electric 13
by Lissa Babe
Summary: This is a Babe fic.  Stephanie accidently learns that Joe bought an engagement ring several weeks ago, but he hasn't proposed. Stephanie is upset by this is and is still having issues with being in love with both men in her life.  Post Twelve Sharp!
1. Chapter 1

Electric 13

Author's Note: This is of course a Fanfic involving character's created by Mrs. Evanovich. I am a babe, but have no intentions of being mean to Morelli. This is my first ever attempt at this so please be kind. I welcome any feedback

Chapter 1

When I woke up this morning I had that feeling that maybe I should just roll over and pretend to not notice that it was time to get out of bed. I actually had the conversation with myself, "Stephanie what difference would it really make, if you took just one day off. Just stay in your warm bed. Why bother with everyone else?" That's when reality hit and I realized that eventually I would have to pay rent. Damn reality.

That is how I wound up here, freezing my butt off in the middle of a Jersey snow storm with Lula, and trying to convince Sandy Bruner to allow us entry into her home.

Sandy seemed like a pleasant enough person. She had average height, dirty blond hair, and about six months pregnant. Lula and I are currently paying her a visit in hopes that her boyfriend Jesse Sanchez will come willingly with us to the Trenton Police Department. Sanchez failed to appear for his court date, and this posed a problem for my current employer Vincent Plum Bail Bonds.

"He's not here."

Sandy stood looking very tired and not all that interested in talking with us. Her son was standing beside her and seemed desperate to get her attention.

"Ms. Bruner, we can see that you are very busy, but it is really important that we speak with Jesse. He missed his court date and my associate and I were hoping to get in contact with him today so that we can help him reschedule," I said all of this with my nicest possible voice and hoped to God that she was buying it.

"Look," she said, "I understand that you girls have a job to do, but he ain't gonna buy that load of crap."

"Momma, momma, momma!"

"Honey, Mommy is busy talking and it is not polite to interrupt adults."

Lula was eyeing the kid suspiciously. Not that I blame her. I wasn't all that trusting myself. I am the proud parent of a hamster, and I am not all that sure my mothering skills reach much further than that.

"Perhaps you could help us out and tell us where we might be able to locate Jesse."

"I really can't he..." she started before the kid started again. " Momma"

"Look Johnny, I've already warned you. Hush or you will have to sit in the corner!"

"But Momma!"

"Hush"

That is when the kid threw up on my new jeans and black boots. Lula's eyes seemed to bug out of her head. Everyone stared for a minute and tried to decide what to do.

"I tried to tell you." Said Johnny

Sandy grabbed Johnny and very quickly carried him to the bathroom. She came back with a wet towel for me. "Please come in and clean yourself up. I am so sorry about that."

I tried to clean myself off the best I could with the towel, but I was pretty sure that the clothes were going in the garbage and all I really wanted was to leave. Lula appeared to still be in shock. "It's really alright Ms. Bruner."

"Please call me Sandy. And come in, I'll just get Johnny cleaned up and I'll be right back out."

Reluctantly we went inside. I wasn't really sure what to do with the dirty towel and it was hard to act professional in this situation. I looked at Lula. She blinked back, indicating that she didn't know what to do with the towel either. Finally Sandy returned and took the towel and discarded it in the trash, then went to wash her hands.

"Sandy, could you just tell us when Jesse might be in? Or I could leave you a card and you could call me when he gets home."

"You could just talk to him at work. He works at my father's jewelry store, Bruner's Gold and Diamond. I could give you directions."

"I know that place." Lula chimed in apparently over the shock from the prior incident. "They have those great sales. You can get really great jewelry there for cheap. It's not that far from here."

"That's right, and you should be able to reach Jesse there until about 6:00. To tell you the truth, I have been waiting for someone to show up about him. He said he was getting all of the charges worked out, but I think he has a real problem. Maybe you can do something to help."

"We ain't no social worker's here. What you think we got time to be helping every piece of scum that runs into trouble with the law and then can't even make their court date. We ain't got time for that kind of shit. You been watchin too much television," said Lula.

"Hey I could pay you," added Sandy. "To tell you the truth, I'm kind of desperate. Maybe you could just do some snooping and find out how far he is into this stuff. I gotta do something to make sure my kids and I aren't in any danger. And it's not like I'm in any condition to be out doing detective work of my own. My mom gave me some mad money before she died. She told me to keep it for a time when I might need a little extra help."

"Sandy," I kindly interjected, "I don't know that we would be qualified to do the kind of thing you're asking about. And if Jesse really is in some trouble you might need your money to take care of yourself and your kids."

"Well she gave me enough to last for a while. And I can always go back to work in my father's store. I only quit so I could stay home for a while with Johnny, and then we found out about this little one," she said as she rubbed her protruding belly.

"What kind of money are we talking about?" asked Lula. I shot her a glare, while she pretended not to notice.

Sandy studied us for a moment before saying, "How about two hundred up front, and another thousand if you can find out how bad the problem is and work towards to get him some help."

I started again to tell her the reasons she should not hire us for it, but Lula beat me to it and told her we would do it. While Sandy went to get us the two hundred dollars, I calmly questioned Lula's state of mind.

"Are you crazy! We can't do this. We don't have any idea what kind of trouble this guy is in. What if he's some crazed addict, or even a drug dealer? What if he's mixed up in some gang?"

"It says in his file that he is only charged with possession of an illegal substance. He only has one other prior DUI. He don't sound like no crazed addicted gang member to me. Just a guy that got hooked on some unfortunate substances. All we gotta do is talk some sense into him and get him to go to some rehab and we make six hundred each. Heck all we really gotta do is try and we each get one hundred. They are having a really great sale at Macy's this week. And I need some sexy new shoes for my date with Tank this weekend. I figured we could give it a try with this Jesse guy and then hit the sale."

She did use good logic. Sandy came back with the two hundred dollars and I agreed to try to help Jesse.

When we reached Lula's car, she took a moment to look at my now stained pants and shoes. "I don't suppose you would take those off before you get in my car would you," she asked. "I don't suppose I would," I replied with a glare.

"Okay, okay," she shrugged, "I just don't like letting things that smell in my car. Plus I got a lunch date with the Big Guy today and I don't want to go smellin like puke."

"I will do my best to keep the smell on my side of the car," I said.

"So when you want to go to the jewelry store? Can we do it after lunch?"

"Sure just drop me at my car and I'll meet you back at the office in a couple of hours"

After a quick shower and change of clothes at my apartment I headed to my sister Valerie's house. She had called me earlier that morning and asked me to come by for lunch. She said she needed my help. This was another reason I wished I had stayed in bed. I love my sister and her family, but they could be a little overwhelming. It also didn't help that I had already been puked on and talked into helping a possible drug addict. The good news is that her older daughters would be in school and Albert would still be at the office. Probably I could handle Valerie and Lisa. I would just stay a few feet away from Lisa since I didn't want to take any more showers today, and hope that the favor Val needed wouldn't be very demanding.

"Thanks for coming. I made us salads for lunch," she said. Valerie had gained a lot of weight during her pregnancy with Lisa and she was still having some trouble loosing the weight. I absolutely hate salad, but there is no point reminding her of this.

"I hate salad." I said.

"I know but it won't kill you to be supportive. You should get used to it you know. Eventually your Hungarian roots will catch up with you and you will have to diet too." I felt my eyes rolling skyward and decided I should try to keep this lunch short. "So what is the favor you need Val. I have to get back to work soon."

Out of no where Valerie burst into tears. I was shocked. I don't deal well with emotions like these, and I really thought Valerie was becoming more stable recently. Obviously I was wrong.

"Oh Stephanie," she moaned. "I have no idea what to do. Steve has been calling the girls and talking to me, and he says that he is going to move to New Jersey."

"Steve?" I said trying to put this together.

"Steve, my ex-husband, the father of Angie and Mary Alice, the man who I was married to for several years and completely devoted to only to have him leave me and run off with the babysitter."

Oh that Steve. "Yeah I knew who you meant Val. It's just surprising. I didn't know that you had heard from him at all since you moved here."

"Well we hadn't until a few weeks ago. I mean we had very minimal contact when we divorced, but that was mostly through lawyers. He didn't fight for any contact with the girls, and he even agreed to pay some child support. He was living in the Cayman's and I honestly figured I would never hear from him again. But then one day he called and said that he missed Angie and Mary Alice and asked if he could talk with them. I allowed it. They seemed confused at first, but it didn't upset them, so I continued to let them talk with him on the phone. Then yesterday he calls me while they are at school and he says that he has taken a job here and he wants to have regular visitation with them. He even mentioned joint custody. I am really nervous about all of this. I mean he deserted us, and now he just wants to come back and start acting like their father again. I just don't trust him."

"Wow," I said. "What does Albert say about all of this?"

"Albert started getting hives again when Steve started calling. He is convinced that I am going to leave him for Steve. I have told him over and over that that will never happen. He has been better the last couple of days, but he doesn't even know that Steve is moving here yet. I couldn't tell him."

"You have to tell him Val. I know it will upset him, but after a while he will calm down and realize that you aren't interested in Steve anymore."

"I know that, and I will tell him. First I was kind of hoping you would do some of your detective stuff and find out what Steve is up to. All I know is that he got some sort of job here and that he wants to see more of the girls. I can't figure out why he is doing all of this. I was hoping you would look into it for me."

"I don't know Val. What if Steve finds out? What do I tell him? And what if he is legit and I can't find out anything on him?"

"Stephanie this is Steve, the guy who deserted his family to party with an 18 year old girl in the Caymans. You can find something on him. And so what if he finds out, it's not like he's dangerous. He's just a dickhead."

"Ok Val. I'll try, but I can't promise anything."

"That's all I can ask"


	2. Chapter 2

Electric 13 Chapter 2

Lula was sitting by Connie's desk when I arrived back at the office. Melvin Pickle was busy filing and Lula appeared to be very excited about what ever she was discussing with Connie.

"What's up," I greeted taking another chair by Connie's desk.

"Lula was just filling me in on the activities of her lunch break."

"Oh yeah," I said wigging my eye brows at her. " So was there some action. Was Tank able to go back to work?"

"Yeah he went back to work. Neither of us is willing to piss off Ranger. But I will tell you this, I think I found new diet. Or maybe a new form of exercise that is so much fun I'm even willing to skip lunch for it. I know I used to do this sort of thing for a living, but I never knew I liked sex so much until I met Tank. He does things to me I never thought was possible. I'm in love."

"Ah come on, you can do better than that. I want details," whined Melvin reminding all of us that he was in the room.

"You just a big perv Melvin. And 'sides Steph and I have work to do. We have to do bounty hunting business. You just need to stick to the filing and mind your own business."

"I was just trying to have some fun, and fit in with you guys," whined Melvin again.

"Hmph" from Lula.

We decided to take my car to the jewelry store, since Lula was not willing to risk any more incidents in hers for the day. I had recently started driving a blue Toyota Camry. It wasn't exactly the sports car of my dreams, but it ran and it got me around. Besides it wasn't likely that I would be driving it for long.

I took the opportunity during the drive to catch up with Lula about her relationship with Tank.

"So are things getting serious with you two?" I asked

" I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "We have a lot of fun together and we spend all the free time that we have with eachother, but we don't really talk about the serious things much. I know I trust him, but I don't know if he trusts me. He doesn't really open up. He has a lot of secrets. Right now I'm just trying to get him to tell me what his real name is."

"Well you seem happy. Maybe it will just take him some time to open up. It can't be easy for him to share personal things, but if anyone can get him there I know you can."

"Yeah, I'm workin on it."

I recognized Tiffany Johnson behind the jewelry counter when we entered the store. She graduated a year before me in high school, but we had run in some of the same crowds.

" I was wondering when you would be in to get that ring sized, Stephanie Plum," she said cheerily. " You know Joe got me my first big commission." She trailed off a the end as she must of noticed the shock on our faces.

"What are you talking about?" I managed as my voice found its way back.

"Oh I must of confused you with someone else. I see so many people, they all start to run together after a while." She said clearly embarrassed and trying to retrace her steps.

"But you called me by name, and you said ring sized, and Joe." I shook my head still trying to come to terms with what she had just said.

"Really, I'm just a big ditz. I don't know what I was thinking about. Just forget it."

I looked at Lula. I didn't know what to do, but I really wanted Tiffany to just come clean and tell me what she new.

"Maybe, you should just fill us in here, ah Tiffany," she said reading Tiffany's name tag.

"I really don…"

"Please Tiffany," I interjected, " Please just tell me what you know. What ring are you talking about?"

She looked at me for a moment. Then she looked at Lula. Lula looked ready to use force on her if necessary. Tiffany flinched and then looked back at me.

"Alright," she said at last, " but you have to swear that you won't tell him I told you this. It's really serious. He could complain and get me fired Stephanie."

"I promise I wouldn't let you get into any trouble for this."

"Ok. Well about one week after I started working here, Joe Morrelli came in and, well, he bought a ring."

"What kind of ring?"

" A princess cut diamond ring. It's really beautiful. I asked him you two were still seeing each other and he said yes, so I assumed it was for you. Aren't you guys still together?"

"You mean like an engagement ring?" I asked still trying to process this.

"I would assume that was what it was for. But you know maybe I misinterpreted the whole thing. Maybe it was a gift for, for, for um his mother. Yeah I bet that is what it was."

"I don't really think officer hottie is really the type to buy a diamond ring for his mother," said Lula. "Look Steph maybe we should do all this later. We can go now if you want."

"What was it that you came for anyway?" asked Tiffany.

"We needed to find Jesse Sanchez," said Lula glancing around the store. "I don't see him here, so we'll just come back some other time."

"I don't know any Jesse Sanchez. Are you sure you have the right store?"

"Look we are professionals here. We know what we're doing. The information we got shows Jesse Sanchez to be employed here at Bruner's Diamond and Gold," said Lula getting huffy.

"Well I've been here for almost three months and I've never met a Jesse Sanchez."

"So Joe came in here over two month's ago and bought an engagement ring?" I asked still in shock

Tiffany looked at me with sympathy in her eyes and nodded.

"We'll just come back later and speak with Mr. Bruner, ok Tiffany," Lula said as she pulled me out the door back to my car. She looked at me nervously, "Are you sure you should be driving. How 'bout you give me the keys and we can go some place relaxing to think this over."

I numbly handed her my keys. I got in the passenger side and stared blankly out the window. Joe had bought an engagement ring. What did it mean? Things had been really great between us ever since I finally managed to tell him that I love him. I meant it too. I do love Joe. I feel warm and fuzzy and safe with him. We fit together and he knows how to make a woman feel in places she never thought she had. Do I want to marry Joe? My family loves him and I think he likes them too. He was even doing better about not giving me a hard time about my job, but does all this mean I should marry him. Does he still want to marry me? Why hasn't he asked yet?

Perhaps the biggest problem in my mind existed in the part I hadn't said that night I told Joe about my feelings for him. I also love Ranger. I don't even know what to do with that. I'm not sure Ranger is even capable of a real relationship. I certainly didn't know if I would ever want to give up a relationship with Joe on the chance that Ranger might be willing to have a relationship with me. I mean I loved them both so doesn't it make since to stay with the man who also loves me and is willing to be in a real relationship with me. But is it fair to Joe. I have never really cheated on Joe, but there have been a lot of close calls, and honestly there were times that I kind of wanted to be with Ranger even though I was in a relationship with Joe. I was having a major guilt trip. What if Joe knows all of this and that's why he didn't prupose?

Or maybe he just changed his mind. Maybe Joe just decided that he didn't want to marry me. What if he wants to break up with me? What if neither Joe nor Ranger wants me for real? Talk about major rejection.

I was on the verge of some major panicing when Lula brought me back.

"Ok," she said calmly, "I can see that you are on the verge of a break down over there, so here is what we are gonna do. We are gonna go in the bar and get a big boy margarita and we are gonna talk this out. If there was ever a situation that called for a big ass margarita, this is it. So come on."

I followed her in and we ordered the margarita's.

"So I guess things have been good with Morelli lately?"

That was all it took for me to spill. I told her about the night that Ranger got shot and about how I realized I loved them both. I told her that I told Morrelli about my love for him and about how things had been great with him, but he never even hinted at getting engaged. Then I told her about all the conversations I have had with Ranger about how he loves me, but this kind of love doesn't come with a ring, and how he doesn't do relationships. I was almost done with my margarita when I finished and felt like I could share anything by that time. She listened and made the appropriate nods and comments.

"So you gotta decide girl. Do you want to be with either of these men?"

" I don't know. I honestly do love them both."

"Come on girl. These are two very different men Stephanie. I mean sure they have their similarities, and I can understand you being attracted to both of them, but they have completely different lifestyles. Which life can you picture yourself in? Can you do the burg police wife thing? Can you do the mercenary girlfriend thing? It sounds like Morrelli is having some serious thoughts. You owe it to him to give this some thought."

" I know, I'm just so mixed up." Not to mention I was starting to feel really wasted.

"Would another margarita help?"

"No!" I practically yelled. "I just need to go home and think about this."

I decided to take a cab home so I wouldn't have to answer any questions. When the cab pulled into the parking lot I noticed Ranger was there leaning against his porche.

"Celebrating Babe?" he asked giving me his almost smile.

"Hardly," I slurred back. "What do you want?"

"Not much of a greeting babe. Can I come up to your apartment? I need to talk to you."

"Do I have a choice I asked? Why do you guys always just show up? What is it that you want from me really?" I slurred some more and started to stumble towards the building as he calmly followed.

"I'm not sure what you mean babe. You always have a choice and I didn't know you minded me showing up."

We reached my apartment and I had a hard time getting my key in the lock. Ranger waited patiently while I opened my door and we walked in.

"So did you have a rough day. Something you want to talk about?"

"Not with you. Look I really just want to go to bed. What did you want to talk to me about?"

He looked at me as if considering my state of mind. I knew I was being rude, and maybe there would have been a time that I would have been afraid to talk to him like that, but I was drunk and confused. I also knew this man would never hurt me, and least not physical and not intentionally.

"I'm not sure this is the best time to discuss this, but I don't have much choice because my flight leaved in a few hours. I am flying to Miami. Julie and her parents have invited me to be more involved in her life. She is out of school for spring break next week so I am going to visit her there." As he was explaining this he went to my kitchen and started to make some coffee. I assumed it was to sober me up. I wasn't sure I even wanted to be sober right now, but I didn't argue. I just sat quietly and laid my head on the kitchen table trying to follow along with what he was saying.

"Babe, you still with me?"

I nodded.

"I was saying that Julie has been emailing me regularly since the incident with Scrog. She asks about you quite a bit as well."

I grunted my best reply and tried to smile. I really did like Julie. She was smart and beautiful a lot like her father.

"Here Babe, drink this," he said as he handed me a cup of coffee.

I sat up and complied with his request. By the time I finished the cup I was feeling a little more alert. He refilled my cup and sat across from me.

"You want to tell me what this was about?" He asked jesturing to me.

I looked at him. His eyes were dark, deep, and filled with concern and strength. I shook my head and looked back down at the table.

He waited a few moments, I guessed he was either giving me the chance to change my mind about talking, or jus trying to decide if I was sober enough for what ever he wanted to talk about.

"I wanted to ask you if you would consider taking a job from Rangeman again." I immediately opened my mouth to turn him down, but he stopped me. "Think about it first he said. Its nothing big, just research and it can be part time if you want. This could be win-win for us. We really need someone with your talent who doesn't need to be trained, and you could enjoy the benefits of a regular salary and even a car if you will accept it. I don't want you to decide this now. I plan to stay in Miami for a couple of weeks. I will talk with you about it when I return. Think it over Babe."

He stood, and then leaned down giving me a bone melting kiss that left me speechless.

" I will have my cell while I am gone. You can also call Tank if you need anything. Think about my offer Babe." And with that the man of mystery was gone.

I was starting to get overwhelmed again so I locked the doors turned off the phones and went to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

Electric 13 Chapter 3

I awoke the next morning with a major hang over and in major need of the cure. The cure is a large McDonald's coke and fries. I was still dressed from the night before, so I just pulled my hair back and headed to the parking lot. As I was riding the elevator I realized that I had taken a cab home last night. Didn't sound like this day was off to a very good start either. I ended up walking out into the lot, I'm not sure what I had planned to see, but I was pleasantly surprised and just a bit confused to find that my Camry was there. I thought about the possibility of it being rigged with some bomb, or having some dead guy in the trunk. I haven't had the best of luck with my cars in the past. Then I decided that I needed the cure bad enough to take the risk, probably God was feeling sorry for me and gave me this one small miracle.

When I got in the car I saw the small note on my steering wheel.

Babe.

Maybe working for Ranger wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. Of course it was a little annoying that he couldn't just tell me he brought my car home.

After finishing my breakfast I was feeling much better. I decided to be brave and turn on my phone. I have five messages. The first one was from Valerie wanting to know if I had found out anything about Steve yet. One from my mom asking if Joe and I would like to join Valerie and her family at her house for dinner. The next two were from Joe asking if I wanted to come to his place. And the last one from Lula asking if I was working today and if we were still planning to look for Jesse Sanchez.

I decided to go out and do some looking for Steve. I didn't really feel like getting back to any of the people that called and figured I would need a few hours to get worked up enough to go back to the jewelry store. So I showered, dressed, and did the hair and make up thing, then I headed out. Stephanie Plum super woman on a mission.

I wasn't sure where Steve was working in Jersey and I wasn't even sure where to start looking for him. My first stop was at Mary Lou's house. I really wanted to find out if there was any gossip going on about him. Valerie said she wanted dirt on him, and I couldn't think of any better place to start than in the Burg gossip lines.

Mary Lou lives in the Burg not far from my parents. She has been my best friend for as long as I can remember and is currently a house wife and definitely a major part of the Burg rumor chain. We don't always get to spend a lot of time together, she is doing the kid thing and I'm not always comfortable around kids. Today was a rare occasion and all of her children were at a local Mother's Day Out and she said she would have time for me to stop by.

"Steve is moving to Trenton?" she asked. So much for my chances of getting info from her.

"Yeah, he says he wants to have more visitations with Mary Alice and Angie. Val doesn't really trust him and she wants me to try to find out some dirt on him, or at least make sure he's being truthful about his new outlook on life."

"Wow. I bet this is weird for her new husband too."

"It doesn't sound like he is dealing with it to well. I was kind of hoping you might have heard something about Steve. Maybe you could use your super human gossip abilities and see if anyone else has heard about him being back in town."

"Sure I'll see what I can do. I'll let you know if I turn anything up. So how is everything else with you? Things still hot and heavy with you and Morelli? Are there any wedding plans in the future?"

"Things are still great between us, not sure about the wedding thing though. I should probably get going I have a lot of work to do today. Thanks for letting me stop by."

Mary Lou glared back at me. "Something's up with you. I am just gonna trust that you will tell me before I hear it from the rest of the world. If you get engaged I would be among the first to know right?"

"Mary Lou you know you would. It's nothing like that. I'm just really busy today."

"Ok, but I am serious about being at the top of your call list if something major is going on with Morelli."

"I got it. Let me know if you hear anything on Steve."

I called Valerie after leaving Mary Lou's.

"Where have you been? I tried calling you all last night." She was starting to sound a little frantic.

"Sheesh Val, this isn't the only thing in my life you know. I'm working on it. I called to ask if you had any ideas about where Steve would be working in Trenton."

"He called again last night. He is going to be moving here next week! He got a job with Holmes & Hubert financial planners. Albert was here when he called. I had to tell him that Steve was moving here. It was awful; he hyperventilated and passed out in the kitchen. The girls thought he was having a heart attack and started screaming. When he came to he started freaking out and said that I couldn't leave him. It took over an hour to get him calmed down. You have got to find something on him Stephanie. I really think it would help to convince Albert that Steve is just a big jerk and I would never leave him for someone like that."

"Val I said I'm doing my best. I'll look into it. Maybe you should take Albert to see a doctor or something. It sounds like he needs some kind of medicine."

"He says he's too embarrassed to go to a doctor about it. I'm going to keep trying though. Are you and Joe going to Mom's for dinner tonight?"

"I don't know yet. If I do come it will be alone though."

"Why, are you and Joe having problems?"

"No, he's just really busy with work. I'll talk to you later."

When I got off the phone with Val I had another message from Morelli. Guess he tried to call while I was on the phone. I decided I should probably call Lula first.

"Girl, I woke up with one major hang over this morning."

"Me too."

"Have you talked with Morelli yet?"

"There really hasn't been any opportunity. He's called a few times, but I've been pretty busy."

"Huh. I don't believe you for a second. You're just avoiding him."

"So are we going after Sanchez today or what?"

"Damn skippy we're going after Sanchez. We always get our man and I need some shopping money."

"Big plans this weekend?"

"Girl you don't know the have of it," said Lula.

Joe called again as I was pulling up to the office. Stephanie you can't avoid him for forever.

"Hello," I said trying to sound casual.

"Cupcake, what's the deal? I've been trying to reach for hours." He sounded a little bit cranky, and that made me just a little bit cranky.

"Well Joe I don't just sit around waiting for you, you know. I have other things to do besides make myself available to meet your needs."

"Christ, Cupcake. Take it easy. I just wanted to see if you wanted to come over later. I'll get some Pino's. I haven't seen you for a few days. Bob and I have been missing you."

"I don't know if I can make it tonight. I'll have to get back to you later." And I hung up the phone. I don't know what it is. I just cracked. Why is it that for years my life was completely boring and I dreamed about having just one man around to make things more interesting, and now I am in love with two men, and one of them might want to propose? And what's with the might part? What's the deal with buying the ring and then never following through? This got me to thinking that maybe I didn't want him either. I don't need this. And what's with Ranger moving in on me when it's convenient and then backing off and pushing me to Morelli when its not? I don't need him either. To hell with them both. I was sick of it. Stephanie Plum strong single woman who does not need men.

Lula seemed to sense that I wasn't in the mood to talk about my situation with Morelli or Ranger, so the drive to Bruner's was relatively quiet. Tiffany was working at the counter again, but she called for Mr. Bruner when we walked in the door. He invited us into his office.

"We are actually here to speak with Jesse Sanchez. Your daughter told us she worked for you." I said getting right down to business.

"He does work for me but he's not often in the store. He's out right now picking up an order for me. He represents me as a buyer and seller through various auctions and at other stores," he explained.

"We're obviously not very familiar with your line of work Mr. Bruner, but perhaps you could tell us the best way to find Jesse," I said trying to sound as polite as possible. Bruner seemed to be very calm, but I was getting a weird vibe from him. He seemed a little hesitant about talking with us. And he seemed to be trying a little bit too hard to be polite.

"Please call me Paul. Like I said Jesse is just a representative of the store, I don't always know exactly where he is at any given moment."

"Your daughter seems to be under the impression that he works in the store. She even recommended that we could find him here any time before 6:00 pm on any given day."

"My daughter is not all that familiar with the workings of the company. Jesse does work for me, but as you can see he is not here."

"How come your sales lady, Tiffany, didn't know who Jesse was?" asked Lula.

"She has only worked here for a few months and Jesse isn't in the store all that much. Tiffany is a part time employee so their paths probably haven't crossed all that often."

"Do you know what auctions or stores he was going to today?"

"I actually sent Jesse out of town for some business in Miami, FL. He should only be gone for a day or two. If you give me your contact information I will get it to him, or I can contact you when he returns. I know that Jesse is anxious to get this mess all straightened out. It was just a misunderstanding."

"Your daughter seems to think that Jesse could use some help. You don't seem to be too concerned about all of this. You haven't seen any indications of a drug problem?"

"My daughter is pregnant and trapped at home all day with only my young grandson keeping her company. She has nothing to do all day but worry. She is making too big of a deal about all of this. I believe that Jesse was just being young and trying to have night of fun to relieve some stress. He is usually a very responsible young man and he cares a great deal for my daughter."

"Please tell Jesse to get in touch with me, and contact me when he does return," I said as I handed him my card. "We appreciate you taking the time to talk with us."

"Something don't seem right about all this," Lula said as we reached the car. "I mean I didn't get the impression that Sandy was some crazed emotional woman. And she didn't mention anything about Jesse leaving town for business."

"Maybe she didn't know he was going. Paul said he left this morning maybe it was spur of the moment. You are right about something being strange though. I believed that Sandy was really worried about Jesse, and I don't buy that she doesn't understand the workings of the jewelry store. Didn't she say she had worked there before? Something is really off about this. I want to find out what it is that Jesse really does for Mr. Bruner," I said.

"Maybe we could ask Sandy about it," Lula said.

"That's a good idea, but let's get some lunch first. How about Taco Bell?"

"Girl I like the way you think."

I took us to the nearest Taco Bell. I had a chicken quesadilla, and a caramel apple empanada. Lula had a Mexican pizza, two soft tacos, and a brownie.

"So have you talked to Morelli yet, or are you still avoiding him?" she asked between bites of taco.

"I talked to him on the phone right before I picked you up. He invited me to dinner."

"Well, did you tell him? Are you gonna have dinner?"

"No. I got sort of irritated with him. I told him I was really busy and couldn't make it. I have decided to be done with men. I'm sick of them going back and forth with me and making me do the same. I'm sick of the guilt and the confusion. I'm sick of being pushed around. I'm going to drop them both."

"Have you told either of them this?" she asked looking a little surprised.

"No, but I will. I just haven't had the opportunity that's all."

"Huh" she said not acting like she believed me. "I think what you really need is to just get away for a few days and really think about things. I heard from a little birdie that you also got a job offer to think about? Does this complicate things?"

"What the hell is that about? I thought Tank was in lock down mode with you. I thought he wouldn't tell you anything about work."

"Well I have ways of getting men to talk. And I think I'm starting to make some progress with him. 'Sides I didn't say that's where I got my information and you didn't answer my question. Do you want to work for Ranger again?"

"I don't know. It would make it harder to drop him altogether if he was my employer."

"It would, but you should think about this girl. Tank, I mean my unknown source, told me that he offered you a part time job and was even willing to give you a car."

"Did your source happen to tell you why Ranger even wants to hire me? I have a hard time believing I'm much of an asset to his company. I think it's just one more way for him to keep tabs on me and have opportunity with me when he wants it."

"Girl you are too hard on yourself. You need to be more positive. I heard that you were really good at that research shit. You've got those spidey senses and all that. And to tell you the truth I understand not wanting to be used, but maybe Ranger doesn't know you feel that way about how he treats you. I don't think he would make you feel that way on purpose."

"Lula, I already told you about all this last night. He made a deal with me to get me to sleep with him. Gave me one of the most amazing nights of my life and then sent me back to Morelli. I can't believe you are taking his side on anything!" I said feeling cranky all over again.

"Don't get all cranky. I am always on your side. I am just saying maybe he is just as confused as you are. I mean if you can't even figure out you feelings for Morelli, how he is supposed to know. Maybe he thinks you want to be with Morelli. And I'm not saying you shouldn't. I think you just need to figure out if you can see yourself with either of them long term."

"If Ranger thinks I want to be with Morelli, then why does he keep going with the kisses and the hinting? I don't know Lula. I really think I need to just get away from both of them. You were right last night, I'm not being fair. Especially if Morelli really is thinking marriage, I don't feel ready for that."

"Hey I think you are definitely on the right track, but how are you going to manage getting them to back off of you?"

"Well, Ranger is in Miami for a couple of weeks so that won't be a problem. And I'll just try pushing Joe off using work for a couple of days. I'm not ready to talk to him about this yet. I'm still a little hurt that he didn't go through with the proposal, even if I wouldn't have said yes."

"Maybe he was just waiting for the right moment."

After lunch we ventured back to Sandy's house. She greeted as at the door and didn't seem surprised to see us. As she let us in, Lula and I looked around nervously for her son.

"Don't look so worried. He's at the Mother's Day Out program today. I was just about go get some grocery shopping done and then go pick him up," she said looking amused. "I used to be just like you girls all about my career and romance, but not too fond of kids except from a distance. Everything changes when you have one of your own. When I had Johnny it was love at first sight, and soon I will have another one. But there are still days when nap time is only thing that keeps me from committing myself into an insane asylum. Anyway, I guess you guys missed Jesse and that's why you're here. Dad sent him to get some important order in Miami this morning and he said he would be gone for a couple of days."

"When we talked with you yesterday, we got the impression that Jesse worked at the store with your father, but when we met with your father today he said that Jesse is actually very rarely in the store," I said trying to judge her expressions.

"Well," she started looking only a little confused," Jesse hasn't been working for my dad all that long. He was a used car sales man before working for dad, and he was good at it. He started working for dad not long after I had Johnny. Dad's business has always done well, but it really picked up after he hired Jesse. I guess I just assumed that Jesse was directly involved with customer sales. Although he does go to Miami every month or so. They found some great contact there, where they buy jewels for reduced prices. That's how they are able to have those great sales. Jesse actually helped dad find the contact."

"So you didn't know that Jesse made deliveries and sales with other company's or that he represented the store in various auctions?" I asked.

"Auctions?" she said looking really confused now. "Well I have really been out of the loop with the business since I left, but I had no idea that dad was even interested that part of the market. And I really don't know what kind of delivery's Jesse would be making. He doesn't talk to me much about work anymore. In fact he doesn't talk to me about much at all. He has been acting really strangely for the last few months. That's why I was so worried about him getting arrested for possession. I assumed that he was getting into drugs. I know that Jesse had a past of experimenting with those sort of things, almost everyone has, but if he was really you know getting addicted I thought that would explain the strange behavior. Maybe dad is getting into other areas of jewelry sales. Maybe the added stress pushed Jesse to the drugs. Do you think that could be it?"

"Maybe," I said. "Do you have some way of reaching Jesse while he is away? Does he have a cell phone?"

"Yeah let me write down his number for you."

"I'm not feeling any better about all of this," Lula said to me while Sandy was in the kitchen getting the number.

After dropping Lula off, I decided that I would go to my parents' house for dinner. It would be a nice distraction from all the issues with Joe and Ranger, plus I would get the added bonus of great food.

Grandma Mazur greeted me at the door when I arrived. "Stephanie, we didn't think you was gonna be able to make it tonight. Guess we need to round up another chair. I heard the car pulling up and thought it would be Joe."

"Joe?" I asked, just then the front door opened and in he walked.

"You look surprised to see me Cupcake. I thought you were busy working tonight."


	4. Chapter 4

Electric 13 Chapter 4

"Joe, what are you doing here?" I asked only slightly annoyed

"I was invited, it was a free meal, and I had this feeling that you would be showing up here tonight. So what's the deal with avoiding me? Is it something I've done?" he asked.

"I don't know Joe you tell me. Have you done or not done something lately that would annoy me?"

He didn't get the chance to answer before my mother called out that dinner was on the table and that Joe and I needed to come sit down. He looked very confused and this just annoyed me more. The thought suddenly occurred to me that maybe this ring wasn't for me. Maybe there was someone else. This sounded crazy even to me though, because we spent a lot of time together and surely I would have heard by now if there was another woman in Joe Morelli's life.

The table at my parent's house was especially crowded tonight. Valerie and Kloughn were there with their children. Mary Alice was still acting like a horse these days, and Angie was still little Miss Perfect. Lisa was in a high chair with a few baby crackers to keep her content so that Valerie could eat. My mother had the pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, roll's and salad on the table. My father had already filled his plate with everything, but was skipping over the salad. Valerie seemed to be watching everyone eating the roast, potatoes and gravy. She looked a little wistful, but ended up just putting salad on her plate. I decided that probably I should skip the salad too just to make sure that there was enough for Val.

Kloughn looked a little bit goofy this evening, even for him. His eyes were especially bright and not very focused and he had a goofy grin on his face. Grandma Mazur was the first to comment on this. "Is something wrong with Albert? He looks kind of like the people in the nursing home that take them special happy pills."

"Albert is going through a particularly stressful time right now and his doctor gave him a little something to help him through it. He said it might take a few days for his body to get used to it," answered Valerie.

"He started me off with a real small dose, but I already feel much better. This food is great by the way. I love pot roast," he said as he dropped a huge bite of mashed potatoes and gravy on his shirt. "Oh shoot!" he said still smiling. "Well it's ok, we can just get that our later right," he said and he continued eating. Everyone stared at him for a moment and then concentrated on their own plates.

"Maybe I should get me some of them pills. Do you think Medicare would cover some of them?" asked Grandma

"Maybe you should go to the home and see if they would put you on some," mumbled Dad.

"Frank!" scolded my mother.

"Maybe you need some of those pills," added Grandma. My dad started to have that really bad look in his eyes. I was a little worried about Grandma.

"Who's ready for cake? It's chocolate with strawberries!" cheered mother trying to distract my father. It worked. He pushed his plate aside while my mother went for the cake.

"I can't believe you thought I would miss any of this," Joe whispered in my ear.

After eating cake and getting some left over's from mom Joe walked me out to my car. "Cupcake, I'm really not sure what is going on, but I really think we should talk. Can we go to my place and try to work all of this out?"

I really felt the need to have this conversation on my turf. "Let's go to my place," I said.

"Alright, I'll follow you there," he said eyeing me skeptically.

I was getting really nervous about it on the drive to my place. I wasn't sure what to say to him. To be honest I did kind of like how well he fit in with my family and I know they really liked him. I was also really annoyed that he just showed up there like that. It felt like he was invading my space, and I also didn't know if I was ready to talk to him about the ring. I really wanted to avoid that subject for a while.

Neither of us said anything as we walked up to my apartment. When we got inside, Joe surprised me with a soft and passionate kiss. "I've missed you," he said.

"Joe we need to talk. I am starting to get really confused about us."

"What are you confused about Cupcake? We love each other; I thought things were going well."

"So did I" I mumbled and looked away. He wrapped his fingers around my chin and forced me to look at him.

"Look, this would be a whole lot easier on both of us if you would just tell me what is going on here."

I decided to just blurt it out; I didn't know what else to do. "Joe, I know about the ring. I know you bought it weeks ago and I don't know why you decided not to give it to me."

Joe looked at me for a moment and I watched the emotions across his face, shock, fear, remorse, and anger.

"Look, I don't know how you found out about that, but it's not a fair reason for you to start avoiding me."

"It doesn't matter how I found out," I said getting really angry now. "What does matter is why you decided not to give it to me, or was it meant for someone else?"

"Stephanie, you know damned well that ring was meant for you. And I think that we both know the reason that I haven't been able to give it to you."

"Well Joe I guess we don't both know, maybe you should clue me in!"

"You're not the only one who knows about things Stephanie. I know things too. Did you really think I didn't know about your nights with Ranger, or about the feelings he has for you? Do you think I haven't noticed the way you look at him sometimes? How can I propose to a woman that looks at another man with more passion and feeling than what she looks at me? How can I propose to you if you won't even admit to me the things you have done with him? I love you Cupcake and there are lots of days that I can feel how much you love me too, but ever since the night that Ranger got shot I have been able to feel that you have feelings for him even more. There are times that I could sware you are thinking about him when you are with me. When I bought that ring, I thought that maybe if we were committed to each other then you could let him go. But I am not so sure about that anymore and I have just been giving myself sometime to think this through. I don't want to loose you Stephanie."

I really wasn't sure what to say to that. It never occurred to me how much this must be hurting him. I don't want to loose Joe, but I also realized in that very moment how truly unfair this was to him. I love Ranger and it was in a different way than the way I love Joe. My love for Ranger is the scary kind that I have always tried to avoid and it might never work with him, but it's not fair for Joe to be just the safer choice. He deserved someone that wanted him the most. I had to end this for him.

"Joe, I want you to know that I was never with Ranger when we were together. In fact we only slept together one time, and I was pretty sure you and were over at that point. You are right though this isn't right. I think that maybe you and I would never really work in a long term commitment. We are going in different directions Joe. I am becoming even less 'Burg, while you are becoming more so. We wouldn't be doing anyone any favors by continuing this. I think it's only fair if we end this," I started crying then and he held me. "Shit, I don't like doing this." I said.

"I love you Cupcake. I hope you find whatever it is you are waiting for." He kissed me on the forehead and left the apartment.

I locked the door after him, before I threw myself on the bed and cried myself to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Electric 13 Chapter 5

When I woke up the next morning to my phone ringing, I shut it off and went back to sleep. I decided to take a break today. I really needed a mental health day and I wasn't ready to talk to anyone about what had happened with Joe. I wasn't sure if anyone new about it yet, I just knew I wanted to stay in bed and wait for everything to get better or at least until my bravery and happiness was recharged.

I woke up again at around one in the afternoon to a pounding at my door.

"Girl, I know you are in there. Get your skinny white ass to the door and let me in, "shouted Lula.

I opened my door and she pushed her way into my apartment. "So I heard that you and Officer Hottie finally broke up. Is this for real this time girl?" asked Lula.

"How do you know about that? It just happened last night," I asked a little panicky.

"Girl this is some of the biggest news the burg has heard in weeks. Everyone knows about it. Don't you check your phone messages? Apparently Morelli took the ring back to the jewelry store this morning. That Tiffany Johnson chick said he was looking really bad and that he said it wasn't going to work out, so he wouldn't need the ring. So is it true? Are you and Morelli really through this time?"

"Yes, it's true. I realized that I wasn't being fair to him. He cared about me too much to end it and I didn't care enough about him to give him the kind of commitment he is ready for. So I ended it. We just aren't meant to be together. I don't think I'm ready for the whole Burg to know about it though. Oh my god my Mother. She's probably already run out of things to iron. I have to check my messages."

"You probably don't want to do that yet girl. You kind of look like a mess, I'm not sure you're ready to be dealin' with your mother while you're in this state. I think what you need is a distraction. You need to come with me to the mall to go shopping for my date with Tank this weekend."

"I don't know Lula. I don't really want to face anyone today. I just want to stay in and avoid everyone for a while."

"Stephanie you know that won't work. You think your mother forgot where you live? I found you here, so can she. You need to get out. We don't have to talk to no one and I won't make you talk to be bout it neither. Shopping will make you feel better. Now go shower and get ready to go girl, cause we have an important mission here. I need your help."

Lula was pretty convincing and I really did want to avoid any confrontation with my mother. I decided to take her advice. I took a shower and dressed. I applied multiple layers of mascara because I needed loads of extra courage today. I was ready to go in about 45 minutes which was pretty good considering my state. We loaded up in Lula's car and headed to the mall.

"So what kind of date is this Lula? Are we looking for something fancy?" I asked as we pulled into the mall parking lot.

"Yeah, Tank says he is going to take me to someplace nice to celebrate our third month together. He won't tell me where we are going, but he says to dress nice. Macy's is supposed to be having a big ass sale this week so I thought we could check there first."

"Works for me," I said.

We found Lula a knee length black dress. It fit her just the way she liked, ultra tight. She pulls it off though. Then we found her some new black FMP's to go with it. After that we decided to hit food court to get reenergized. We both opted for chicken and fries.

"I know I agreed to not bug you about this, but how are you really doing?" Lula asked between bites.

"It's actually kind of a relief. I don't have to feel as guilty or pressured about things now. I'm more worried about how my family will take this. They were getting pretty attached to Joe."

"Girl if they love you, then really they should just want you to be happy. It might take some adjusting for them, but I'm sure once they see you are doing what's right for you they will get used to the idea. So does this mean you decided about your feelings for Ranger? Does he know yet?"

"I don't know. I'm still sort of afraid of my feelings for Ranger. I realized last night that part of the reason I didn't want to give Joe up was because he was safe, but Joe would not ever really understand me. I have strong feelings for Ranger and I'm not sure what to do about that. He sent me to Morelli, and he told me he doesn't really have room in his life for relationships. I'm not really sure what he wants from me other than sex, and I need more than that."

"Maybe Ranger doesn't know what he wants either. You should at least tell him about it being over between you and Morelli and see what his feelings are about things."

"Yeah maybe I will," I said.

Lula looked a bit skeptical but she dropped the subject. We finished our lunch and headed to Victoria Secret. Any true Burg girl knew that a shopping trip was not complete without at least one trip to Victoria Secret. They were having a huge sale, so Lula and I loaded up on bra and panty sets, plus some fun lingerie. After this, we felt our trip had been successful enough. I was actually feeling much better. Lula offered to take me out for another margarita, but I declined still remembering the feeling from the previous morning. She dropped me off at my apartment and I decided it was time to check my messages.

I had twelve messages. Five in all from my mother asking if it was true about me and Joseph and insisting that I call her back or come by the house. Two from my sister saying that I really should call mom or her to let them know what happened and asking if I had found out anything on Steve yet. One from Lula trying to reach me I guess before she had actually come by that afternoon. One from Vinnie asking what the deal was about Sanchez. And three from Mary Lou insisting that I call her.

I decided to call Mary Lou first, figuring that she would be the most supportive.

"_I_ thought we agreed that you would call me first if something big happened with you and Morelli?" she said.

"Mary Lou, you are the first person I have called since it happened. It only happened last night. I needed some time to regroup."

"Is it true that he was planning to propose to you?"

"Well he had bought the ring, but he said he didn't know if I was ready to commit to him. And I wasn't ready Mary Lou."

"So who broke it off Steph?"

"I guess I did."

"Oh my god. Are you ok? Do you need some company? Maybe we should plan a girl's night or something. I can't believe you broke up with Morelli. Is this what you really wanted?"

"Let's take a rain check on the girl's night. And I guess I broke up with him, because I realized I wasn't being fair to him. I didn't love him enough to get married to him, and I was having a hard time deciding between him and someone else. Morelli deserves to be with someone that is ready for that stuff and who loves him enough to commit."

"Wait a sec, who is the other guy? Were you cheating on Joe?!"

"No I never actually cheated on Joe, but I do sort of have feelings for another guy. It's Ranger."

"So all that gossip about you and Ranger is true too? I had no idea. How long has this been going on?"

"I don't know what you heard, but Ranger and I were only together one time and I wasn't with Joe at the time. The night that Ranger was shot in my apartment I realized that I was in love with both of them, and when I found out that Joe was planning to propose I realized I didn't love Joe in the marriage kind of way. Joe was the safe choice Mary Lou, but we are going in different directions."

"I can't believe all of this. You have a lot of explaining to do girl. We have to get together and soon. I mean it."

"Ok Mary Lou, but I'll have to get back to you about it. I still have to call my mother and my sister."

"That should be a lot of fun. They are going to flip."

"Tell me about it. Can I call you tomorrow?"

"Yes, but only if you promise that we can get together and you have to promise to spill everything this time."

"Deal, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye girl."

Well, I decided, that didn't go too bad. I still didn't feel courageous enough to call my mother yet though. I stared at the phone for several minutes and then decided that maybe if I got something to eat it would give me courage. What I really needed was a Tastykake; if I had a Tastykake I could face my mother.

I grabbed my keys and headed to the 7-eleven. I couldn't decide what kind would give me the most courage so I grabbed one of everything. The man at the check out counter looked somewhat concerned about me, but he didn't say anything which was probably for the best. I took my stash home and started with the chocolate cupcake. Then I had a butterscotch krimpet, followed peanut butter candy cake. I thought about eating the cream filled coffee cake or the chocolate junior, but I decided to save those for later in case I needed more courage then.

Finally I felt I had just enough courage to dial my mother's number, but I happened to glance at the clock 6:00pm. I can't call at dinner time. So instead I turned off my phone and popped in Ghostbusters. I cried through the whole movie. Hey it can be emotional. After that I decided to watch Ghostbusters II, and I cried through it too. After that I wasn't sure what to do with myself. I was just thinking about going to talk to Rex when there was a knock at my door.

"Stephanie, it's your dad. Your mom sent me over with some food." How is it that they always knew how to get to me? I checked my peephole and sure enough it was my dad and he appeared to be holding a bag of food. I decided to let him in.

"Hi Dad, What's up? Your out kind of late aren't you?" I asked trying to sound up beat.

"Your mother has been driving us all crazy all day. She sent me here to spy on you and find out what happened with you and Morelli. Frankly I don't give a damn about what happened with you and Morelli. He is just a hot blooded Italian male and they all are always after one thing. The only reason I agreed to come over here, was to get out of the house. Your mom has ironed everything in the house including the towels. How the hell does a person even go about ironing a towel?" I wasn't exactly sure how to respond to this so I just blinked at him a few times.

"Anyway, I figure you have a television maybe you'll let me watch the news to get the scores on today's games and then I can go home and tell your mother I came to see you. You can decide what you want me to tell her, if you want me to tell her anything." He set the food down on my kitchen table and made his way to my couch. I put the food away while he turned the television onto a local news station. Maybe this could work. I could give dad just enough information to get mom to back off and not have to actually face her yet.

I caught dad before the sports segment and tried to get his advice. "So how much information do you think it would take to get mom to back off for a while?" I asked him.

"I'm not sure there is any amount of information that can do that. Why don't you just tell me what happened and I'll do my best to cool her down for a bit, "he replied.

"Ok," I said, "Here's the thing. I found out the other day on accident that several weeks ago Joe bought an engagement ring for me that he had never gotten around to using. We ended up having a confrontation about this last night and I realized that I did not love him enough to marry him and that I don't think I would ever get to that point. I decided that this was not being fair to either of us, so I broke up with Morelli. We are not going to get back together. It just wasn't meant to be Dad." There is really no point in explaining all the Ranger stuff to my family. I'm not actually sure about that stuff myself yet, and there is no reason to get them just as confused as I was.

"Listen, it sounds to me like you did the right thing. I am proud of you for not being pressured into something you weren't ready for or didn't want. I know I don't say a lot about what goes on in this family, but that doesn't mean I don't see what's going on. I'll just tell your mother that it's over between you two and that she should stay out of it. You should realize by now of course that she probably isn't going to listen to me and you will have to face her eventually. You should consider going out of town for a while. Aren't there any skips you can chase to a foreign country or something?"

"None come to mind right now. Maybe I should just move."

My dad laughed at this. "Maybe I could join you, but only if we never tell your grandmother where we are."


	6. Chapter 6

Electric 13 Chapter 6

The next day I decided it was time to get back to business. I was going to resume my search for Jesse Sanchez. I felt like moving on with my life and being a responsible human being again. I felt very energized and ready to face anything. Those Tastykakes must have really done the trick.

I called Lula to see if she wanted to go with me to check on Jesse Sanchez. She wanted to go, so I told her I would meet her at the bonds office. On the way in I picked up a dozen Boston cream donuts because I felt like being charitable. When I arrived at the office, Lula jumped in my car before I had the chance to get out.

"Girl I have to talk to you," said Lula sounding somewhat frantic.

"What is it Lula? Why don't we go in for a minute, I bought donuts for everyone."

"You better let me share my news first, because when I'm done you might not feel like sharing those donuts. You might be feeling like you need all them donuts for yourself."

"Lula just tell me already."

"Ok, but just try to remember that it's not like I did anything on purpose, and I am doing the right thing by being upfront with you. So try not to get all psycho mad at me."

"Lula! What is it?"

"I might have mentioned to Tank that things are over between you and Morelli. In fact I might have let him know all of the details about the break up and about the fact that part of it had to do with you having feelings for Ranger."

"What?! How does something like that just slip?"

"Well you know how these men are. They have super abilities, it's like he can read my mind, or do things that make me want to tell him everything. One minute he was being all sexy, and the next minute we were talking about Ranger and then about you. He asked if I thought you were gonna take the job at Rangeman. Something about how their searches are getting really backed up. I told him you had a lot of other things on your mind right now. He asked if I thought Morelli would have a problem with it. I told him that you probably didn't give a fuck what Morelli thought about it and told him that you two weren't an item anymore. He asked if it was something serious, and I swear I don't know why I did this but I told him about the almost proposal and how you didn't want to marry Morelli. He went into his quiet mode and I told him I didn't know what the problem was with the men in your life and how you were a great person that deserved to be in love with someone that was willing to offer you a relationship. He said that it sounds like the man in your life did offer a relationship. I told him not that man, but the other man in your life. Then I told him that he should do his friend a favor and tell Ranger to get his shit together. I told him that you was too much of a woman to wait around forever while some man tried to decide if you was worth it. Tank seemed a little surprised by my little speech, and that's kind of when it occurred to me that you might not appreciate me sharing all this with him." After she finished talking Lula looked at me like she was waiting for me to catch on fire.

"I think I'm going to need those donuts," I said and she quickly handed me the donut box.

"Look it may not be a big deal; I mean he may not even say anything to Batman about this. I mean it's not like those two talk all that much anyway. Mostly they are good at the one word conversations."

"Did you ask him not to say anything?" I said hopefully

"Well, you see he got a phone call right after that and told me he needed to go."

"Who was on the phone?" I said really panicking now.

"I'm not sure it seemed work related, he's real busy right now since Ranger is out of town."

I ate about four more donuts and tried to figure out what I should do with this information. I quickly realized that there really wasn't much for me to do. It's not like I could control Tank and getting mad at Lula wasn't going to help either. So after just one more donut, I handed the box back Lula and announced that we were going to pretend this never happened and go talk to Sandy Bruner. She seemed relieved and finished off the rest of the donuts on the way to Sandy's house.

Sandy looked a little stressed when she answered the door for us. "I was just thinking about calling you. I think something is wrong. I haven't been able to reach Jesse at all and he hasn't checked in with me since he left. I just called my dad and he said not to worry. He said that Jesse was really busy and he would probably be home by tonight or tomorrow."

"Is it like him to check in with you when he is away on business?" asked Lula.

"Yes," she replied, "He never goes this long without talking to me or Johnny. When he didn't call at first, I was afraid he was still upset with me over a fight we had before he left, but I don't think he would have missed talking to Johnny over a fight between us."

"You didn't mention a fight when we dropped by the other day. What did you have a fight about?" I asked.

"Well, it didn't really seem like a big deal at the time. We have actually been fighting more and more lately. I was really upset over his arrest, and he seems to be closing up a lot more lately. Before he left I reminded him that he needed to get in touch with you guys, and asked him why he wasn't taking care of this stuff. I was mad that he didn't seem to be taking this arrest seriously and he always dismisses me when I ask about him being in any kind of trouble. He told me that I shouldn't be talking to you and that you guys needed to stay out of our business. He said he would contact the court when he got back from his trip, but said this trip was more important right now. I told him that if he was in jail it wouldn't really matter if the jewelry store was doing well. He said to just stay out of it and told me again to not talk to you guys."

"Do you know if your dad has had any contact with Jesse since he left? Did you tell him about your fight?" I asked.

"I think that Dad would have told me if had heard from Jesse. He knew I was worried about him when I called earlier. I didn't tell him about the fight, because I didn't want to upset him, and I think Jesse would be upset if he knew I was talking to anyone about us fighting. He's kind of private especially lately."

"Do you know anything about who his contact is in Miami?"

"Only that his name is Richard. He calls the house sometimes to try to get in touch with Jesse. He has an accent, Hispanic I think. Wait a minute; his number may still be on the caller id. I always know it's him, because it says unknown name, but the number is a Miami number. Yes, here it is I'll write it down for you. You will let me know if you find Jesse or hear anything won't you. I really am starting to worry about all of this."

"We'll let you know Sandy. Call us if you think of any other information or if you hear from Jesse, "I said as we left the house.

"This is all starting to get really creepy," I said as we pulled away from the house.

"It sure is. It sounds to me like Jesse is in to something pretty bad here, and I'm not so sure that Paul isn't involved in this whole mess too."

"We really need to run a search on this number and try to find out who it belongs to. Let's go to the office and see if Connie can help us out."

"Ok, but don't mention the donuts. Connie and Melvin will get really cranky if they find out we had donuts without them," said Lula.

"It says here that this phone number belongs to a Richard Alvarado in Miami, Florida," said Connie as she worked on our search. "I'm not getting much else on him. No arrest record that I can find. I don't know if my programs will be able to give you much help on this guy. I can try a couple of other searches, but it may take a few days. What's all this got to do with the Sanchez file anyway?"

Lula and I filled her in on the information we had gathered so far from Sandy and her father.

"Maybe you guys should check the search programs at Rangeman. They will have access to a lot more information," suggested Connie.

Lula looked at me hesitantly, "It's not a bad idea. Do you want me to ask Tank?" she asked.

"Let me think about it," I said.

"Think about what Babe," said a familiar slightly Cuban voice behind me.

I gave Lula a panicked look, then took a deep breath and tried to sound normal. "I thought you were supposed to be in Miami for a couple of weeks."

"Something came up with a client here in Trenton that needed some personal attention. Disappointed to see me Babe?"

"No just surprised," I said.

"I need to talk to you. Have you had lunch yet?"

"No, but I sort have plans to eat lunch with Lula," I said hoping that Lula would step up for me.

"I'm sure Lula will understand," said Ranger as he glanced at her.

Lula wasn't looking to good. She looked somewhat worried and only nodded her agreement with Ranger. I shot her my best Burg glare as Ranger led me out the door. She shrugged and looked apologetic.

"How about Shorty's?" he asked as we pulled away in his black Porsche Turbo.

"How about Pino's," I countered wanting to feel in control.

He looked at me curiously for a moment, but agreed, "Deal, but only if we can take it to my apartment or to your place. I need to talk to you and Pino's will be too crowded."

"Fine, we can take it to my place," I said still wanting to be in control.

He glanced at me, but didn't really respond. We got a salad and a meatball sub to go and took them back to my place. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge for Ranger and a coke for me and we sat down for lunch.

"Want to answer the question you were avoiding at the office?" he asked as he poured light Italian dressing on his salad.

"Want to tell me why you came back to Trenton early?" I retorted.

"I already answered that Babe. Is there a reason you don't want to use Rangeman for the searches on your case?"

"If you already know everything why do you even ask me?" I asked feeling cranky.

"I was hoping you would share it with me, it makes things smoother when you give me the information yourself."

"Well maybe I don't always feel like making things smoother for you. You certainly don't return that particular favor."

"Babe," he said sounding just a little frustrated, "Why don't you just tell me what you are upset about."

"Why should I Ranger? What gives you the right to know everything about my life? How come it's my job to make things easy for you? You get to be as distant as you want to be and make me feel all hot and crazy for you when ever you want, and I'm just supposed to take it and make things easy for you." I really felt on a roll at this point. I have no idea where all this was coming from but it was feeling good to get it out. I stood up from my chair and threw my half eaten sub on the table. "Well guess what Ranger," I yelled, "I'm sick of making it all easy for you. I'm not playing your games anymore."

This was the point that I realized that Ranger had tomato sauce on his face. It took me about two seconds to realize that the sauce came from the sandwich I had thrown on the table, and about two more seconds to realized that Ranger appeared to be doing some deep breathing exercises to calm down. I decided I didn't care if he was mad, it might even be a nice change from calm and always in control. "You don't like my new attitude? Deal with it! I've thought that your attitude has sucked for a long time and that didn't seem to bother you." I threw a napkin at him as I said this.

I watched him as he took the napkin and cleaned his face. I watched as he continued to take deep breaths and stood up. I didn't really start to panic inside until he started to approach me, but I didn't move. He stood in front of me for a moment and looked deep inside of me. I wasn't sure if this was an intimidation tactic, but if it was it sure as hell worked. His eyes were darker than I've ever seen them and damn they were sexy. He reached up and tucked a stray curl behind my left ear and continued with the deep staring. Before I even realized what was happening he was leaning down and kissing me like I've never been kissed before. I actually felt my body weaken as he pulled me into him. And when he stopped I wasn't angry anymore.

"Are you sure it's really over with Morelli, Babe? Because I still don't share."


	7. Chapter 7

Electric 13 Chapter 7

After being kissed like that I wasn't exactly in the mood for this conversation. I know I said that I wanted more than just sex from Ranger, but I was having a hard time remembering why at the moment.

"Yes," I replied still out of breath, "Morelli and I are definitely over."

I leaned into him for another kiss and he returned it in away that was not at all disappointing until he pulled away. It was then I realized his damn phone was vibrating in his pocket. I guess I had been a bit distracted. He took his phone out but kept his eyes on me.

"Talk," he said very professionally into the phone. "I'm on my way." Guess this ruined the things I had planned for the afternoon.

"I have to go Babe, but we need to talk. We have a lot of unfinished business. It also sounds like you have some work to do on your Sanchez case. You should go to my apartment. You can have access to the Rangeman search programs from my computer and later we could have dinner there." As he said this he was cleaning up the table from lunch and obviously getting ready to leave. "Come on and I'll drop you at your car."

I was currently having a lot of mixed feelings. The angry feelings from earlier were starting to creep back, along with confused, most of all I was frustrated, but I followed him to his car and got in.

Ranger was in driving mode, but under the circumstances I did not feel like staying quiet I wanted answers.

"When did you find out about my break up with Morelli and who told you about it?" I asked even though I had an idea about the answer.

He glanced at me and from the look on his face I wasn't so sure he was going to answer, but he surprised me.

"I started getting a few phone calls about it yesterday, but Tank confirmed it for me this morning. Sounds like Lula had some pretty interesting things to say about the break up, along with some added advice."

"So what does this mean for you? I mean the fact that I'm available, does this change anything?"

"Well, I'm hoping it provides a solution to that guilt problem you've been having," he said with an almost smile.

"So it is just about the sex for you? Now I'm available in that way you can really move in on me? What about what I want Ranger?"

He glanced at me again and I was having a really hard time reading his thoughts. "You always have a choice with me Babe. And what you want does matter; as soon as you decide what that is I'll be willing to discuss it with you."

I knew what I wanted, I just didn't know how to go about getting it, or if it was even possible.

"Do you still consider yourself to be the desert in my life?" I asked

This got a half smile. "Yes," he said.

"You do know that desert is the base of my food pyramid." I said watching him very closely.

"Babe," he said as he pulled in next to my car. He reached across the car, and pulled me to him for another bone melting kiss. "We'll talk tonight. Are you going to go to my apartment to use the search program?"

"Probably," I said

"Good, wait for me there."

Ok that went well. I fell much better now. What the hell is with this guy? Why can't I fall for simple guys who have conversations that don't leave you more confused than when you started?

I decided to take Ranger up on his offer to use his computer to search for Richard Alvarado. I figured it was a pretty decent offer. Ranger had a nice apartment and a big comfy office chair right in front of his fancy computer with the fancy search programs. I also thought it would be a good opportunity to look into some of Steve's activities for Valerie.

I went by my apartment first to grab the left over Tastykakes and a coke. Hey I never finished lunch and I was going to need some extra bravery to have a real conversation with Ranger later. Plus Ranger never has anything fun to munch on in his place.

I used my key fob at the Rangeman building and parked my Camry in one of the empty slots. I went straight up to Ranger's apartment and got down to business. I put in the searches for Richard Alvarado first. There really wasn't a lot of information floating around about this guy. I did discover that he was 27 years old and owned his own home and a couple of really nice cars. He had really great credit and no real debt that I could find. I didn't find any arrest history or any source of income. After some more in depth searching I found out that his father John Richard Alvarado was serving a 20 year sentence for armed robbery. I found a new article about him from about 10 years ago that described that this was the third charge of this for John Alvarado and that he had actually been out on parole for one of his previous charges when he committed this crime. He seemed to specialize in jewelry theft. This really seemed to be a little too coincidental. I was getting a really bad feeling about all of this.

I decided to give the Alvarado search a rest and after eating a couple of Tastykakes I looked into Steve. I wasn't finding anything. He seemed to be very smart with his money. He had made a lot of good investments. He spent a lot in the Cayman's but he wasn't totally broke now. He paid his child support regularly. No arrest record. Nothing that shouted this guy is no good.

I wasn't feeling very good about my searches. I really hated the fact that it sounded like Jesse Sanchez and Paul Bruner were mixed up in something really fishy and probably very illegal. I particularly did not want to tell the very pregnant Sandy about my concerns. I hated giving this kind of news to people.

I also was not happy that I wasn't really seeing anything to report to Valerie about Steve. She really seemed to be counting on me to bring her something to use against him and I couldn't really find it. At lease nothing that was illegal or even very concerning. I mean sure he ran away with the babysitter, but there didn't seem to be any other major fuck ups in this guy's life.

I decided to give my brain a break for a few minutes. I took my remaining Tastykake into the living room and turned on the television. Ranger walked in just as I was getting settled.

He eyed my Tastykake before saying, "You'll ruin your dinner Babe."

I gave that comment a smirk but continued eating. "Did you have a successful day?" I asked.

"That fire is officially put out for the time being. What about you? Any luck on your search?"

I filled him in on what I had learned about Richard Alvarado and his father. And about how Lula and I had agreed to try to help Jesse for Sandy

"Sounds like bad business to me Babe. I'm not too sure there's anything you can do to help with something like this. Do you want me to have someone look into the situation in Miami?"

"You mean like doing my work for me and capturing Sanchez?" I asked accusingly

"No Babe. I was thinking more along the lines of having someone look into this Alvarado family and try to find out what kind of business Jesse Sanchez and Paul Bruner have with them."

"I guess that would be alright as long as you aren't just taking over the case, I have to pay rent somehow."

"I could help with that rent situation. Have you decided yet whether or not you want to take the job with Rangeman?"

"About that, I really want to know what your reasons are for hiring me. It didn't work all that great last time I worked here. Is this just so you can keep your eye on me and to make it easier for you to make moves on me?"

"Babe, I'm going to make moves on you whether or not you are my employee. It's not working out with the man currently doing the Rangeman searches for this office. I hired this guy because he came recommended by an associate that I respect, but I don't think he is happy doing searches and it is showing in his work. I have spoken with him about it and he wishes to do more field work. He agreed to doing searches part time on an as needed basis, but I need someone to fill in on searches. It would be easier to hire someone who already knows the programs that doesn't need to be trained. You would be the perfect candidate; you were good at your job here."

Ok well that actually sounded reasonable. "About the moving in on me thing, are you serious about that part?"

"Yes," he said. His eyes looked straight into me when said that.

"So, where do you see this going?" I asked hoping I wasn't shaking visibly.

This time it appeared as though Ranger wasn't in the mood for talking. He reached across the couch and pulled me to him. He started kissing me first on the mouth, but then moved to my neck and my body. He carried me to the bedroom, and this time I knew I was ruined for all other men. There was no turning back.


	8. Chapter 8

**Electric 13 Chapter 8**

**A/N: Ok so I obviously haven't added anything to this story in several weeks. I guess I got distracted by real life. Anyway I am going to keep going, but this is still my first story so I would really love feedback and bear with me.**

I woke up the next morning feeling satisfied, warm, and comfy in Ranger's bed. It took me a couple of minutes to realize that I was alone in Ranger's bed. This is when I really started to freak. What the hell had I done? I didn't want this. I mean who wouldn't want Ranger sex, but I knew it didn't really mean anything. Ranger didn't do relationships. And I thought we were going to talk last night. I felt stupid and just a little bit used.

I didn't know what I should do now. A big part of me wanted to just leave town like my Dad suggested. I had only been broken up with Joe for two days and I was already having sex with Ranger. I am such a slut.

I was really starting to get myself worked up. I decided the first thing to do was to get cleaned up, because even in this state I couldn't make myself turn down a shower in Ranger's apartment with Ranger's shower gel, the only thing that could make it better would be Ranger showering with me. But I'm not supposed to be thinking about that, I really had to get out of there.

I got dressed quickly, deciding to skip the shower after all. I mean, why tempt myself anymore? I looked around for any signs of Ranger when I stepped out the bedroom, but he didn't seem to be there. This just made me more certain that last night hadn't really meant anything changed between us.

I was able to leave Rangeman without any incident and returned to my apartment. The first thing I needed was a long hot shower. I was trying to decide what to do with my day and going through the list of things that I needed to get done. I still had to figure out what was going on with Jesse Sanchez and Steve. I could also check in with Connie to see if any new skips came in to tide me over. I still hadn't decided about whether or not to take the Rangeman position but I honestly could use the funds it would provide. If I did take the job what the hell was I going to do about working around Ranger so much? I needed to get some space from him and get it together. I still couldn't believe I had given into him so easily the night before, although it had been pretty great.

After the temperature of my water started to rapidly decline, I decide it was time to get of the shower before figuring out my day. I went with casual and comfy today, which was not really unusual. I dressed in jeans and a soft long sleeve blue t-shirt before fixing my hair and makeup. Just as I was stepping out of my bedroom I realized that I wasn't alone.

Ranger was sitting on my couch with his legs stretched out in front of him. He had his usual unreadable face on, so I didn't really have any idea if he was having any regrets from our night of passion. I could smell fresh coffee from the kitchen so I went to get myself a cup.

Ranger hadn't followed me so I took my mug back to the living room. I took a seat on the opposite end of the couch and started sipping my coffee. I was preparing myself for another one of his speeches about him not doing relationships, and wasn't really feeling anxious to start the conversation, so I just waited patiently for him to start.

"Why did you leave?" he asked.

I shrugged, "I wasn't sure where you had gone and I needed to come home," I said staring at the mug in my hands.

"Babe, is something wrong?"

"Nope, I just needed to shower and change so I could get some things done today. You weren't even there when I got up."

"I left you a note with the breakfast that was left for you in the kitchen. I had brief meeting this morning and I didn't want to wake you."

"Guess I missed the note. Sorry" I shrugged.

"Is there something you want to talk to me about? Are you upset with me?"

"No"

"Babe, come one give me a clue here."

This really got to me. Where did he get off telling me to give him a clue? This from the man of mystery, who never clued me in to anything. I was just going to keep quiet and let him do the talking. I still didn't feel like being rejected just yet. I felt so stupid for doing this to myself again. What was I thinking?

"Look, Ranger, nothing is wrong. We both had a great time last night, but I still have some things I need to take care of today and I'm sure you've got lots of things you could be doing," I said as I got up trying to show him that I was ready to leave.

Ranger studied me for a minute before saying, "I do have some more meetings this morning and some surveillance to do this afternoon." He came to stand in front of me and lifted my chin so that I was looking up at him. "We will talk later tonight though, and you will tell me what is going on. We still have unfinished business Babe. I'll come by tonight at 8:00."

I was about to protest about the way he was demanding that I be there instead of asking, but then he leaned down and kissed me in a way that totally ruined my train of thought. After that he was in the wind again. Damn him.

I grabbed my bag and decided I would go get Lula. Maybe she would be able to give me some direction about what to do with my day. I called her on her cell and asked her to come out to the car.

"Oh My God!" She said "You had sex with Batman! And don't you try lying to me, it's written all over your face that you had sex, so either you met a new man last night or you had sex with Ranger."

I blew out a sigh and told her what had happened the night before and this morning.

"So you just left him like that without even finding out what he wanted? Maybe he don't feel the same as he did last time Steph. I mean a lot has happened since then."

"Lula we were supposed to talk about it last night, but when I started to bring up again he just moved in on me. I mean I wasn't exactly an unwilling participant, but it seems obvious to me that he didn't have much to say."

"It sounds like he wants to talk to you about something. He said he was coming to talk to you tonight."

"He didn't even ask, he just told me that I would talk to him. It was really irritating. I just need to have some space to figure this out and get myself together. I'm not ready to be rejected by him again."

"So what are you planning to do? It's not like you could just hide from Batman. If he wants to talk to you, he's gonna find you."

I thought about that for a minute and I couldn't really come up with any solutions. "You're probably right. I just need a break from thinking about it for a while. Maybe we can check in at the jewelry store and with Sandy again to see if Jesse Sanchez is back."

There was a different person working at the sales counter of Bruner's Gold and Diamond. As soon as I started to ask the sales associate if I could speak with Paul, Paul opened his office door and waved us in. He looked different than what he had looked when Lula and I had seen him before. He seemed really agitated and looked like he hadn't slept in a while.

"Sandy told me that you were going to try to help her with Jesse," he said looking sort of desperate.

Lula and I looked at each other and nodded.

"I really need for you to find him. Jesse's well, he might be in some trouble," he said while he paced his office. "Damn it, why did I think I could trust him with this?" he muttered to himself.

"Trust him with what?" I asked

"Look, I can't really tell you much about what is going on. Can't you just find him for me and then let me talk to him before you take him in. I would pay you extra. Isn't it your job to find him anyway?"

"Mr. Bruner we have been trying to locate Jesse, but we need a hint about what is going on here. It might help us to find him, if you told us what is going on," I said trying to reason with him.

"I said I can't tell you what is going on, but you'll need to go to Florida. He's in Miami and you should check out this phone number, it's the last place he called from." He handed me a piece of paper with a phone number on it and his hands were shaking. "You can't tell anyone that I told you any of this and you can't say anything to Jesse or anyone else about Sandy and me wanting you to find him. Please it's very important; you can't say anything to anyone else. When you have him, just call me and I'll come talk to him. I can pay you $2000, just please help us."

I glanced at Lula and she was looking a little bit surprised in the sudden change with Mr. Bruner.

"We'll try," I said.

Lula was looking even more shocked after I said this, but she didn't say anything until we had left the store. "Are you sure about doing all this Steph? I mean we might need some help with this one. I'm not getting good vibes. And 'sides isn't there a Rangeman office in Miami. Couldn't they just you know take this one over for us? I mean I ain't scared or nothing, I just know you've already been pretty stressed lately."

"Lula, this will be perfect. We can get out of town for a while and have a purpose. And I am tired of always having to turn to Morelli and Ranger for things."

"I'm with you, and you know it's not that I'm scared. I'm just thinking it might be a bit more professional if we had some assistance on this one from someone with just a bit more experience."

I thought about that for a second and realized we might need some help. I didn't even know how to get around in Miami and I would need access to some good search programs to pull this off.

"Maybe we could get some help from Rangeman in Miami, and I don't think that we would even have to bother Ranger about anything," I said.

"Uh oh," Lula said," I don't like that look. It usually means you are thinking of doing something crazy."

"I was just thinking that maybe you could call Tank and invite him to have lunch with us," I said smiling.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Thanks so much for everyone who has reviewed my story. Please tell me what you think!**

**Electric 13 Chapter 9**

We were able to convince Tank to help us without telling Ranger, but it took a lot to persuade him. I eventually got to him by pointing out the fact that Ranger would be a lot angrier at him if I ended up going on my own without any help, after asking him. That and Lula said she wouldn't put out any more for a month if he didn't help us. I'm not sure I actually believed Lula, but it seemed to work on Tank.

Tank told us to fill him in on when we would be arriving in Miami and he would be sure there was a man waiting for us at the air port. Now we just had to convince Connie to get us two flights and a room in Miami.

"So you two are just planning to fly down to Miami and magically locate Sanchez? Tell me you at least have some sort of plan here," Connie said, not really seeming too thrilled.

"Of course we have a plan," insisted Lula, "we even have back up on this one."

"Is Ranger going with you?" asked Connie

Lula looked at me as to indicate, told you, you should be asking Ranger.

"Ranger can't really get away right now, but we will be getting some help from Rangeman in Miami." It wasn't exactly a lie.

"Ok I'll book the flights and the hotel, but Vinnie will probably insist that I take it out of your cut of the bond."

Our flight was going to leave in three hours, so we went by Lula's place first so she could pack and she called Tank to update him on the way. After that we went to my apartment.

"So what do you plan to do about the fact that Ranger is supposed to be by your place tonight and will obviously realize you ain't home?" asked Lula

"Well I hadn't really decided about that yet. Maybe I could leave him a note or something, "I responded.

"What are you going to say, 'Dear Ranger, I think I might be in love with you, but I too much of a chicken shit white girl to stay around and talk to you about any of this'?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'Sorry I couldn't be here for our meeting, but I had a job that took me out of town. Call you when I get back'" I said looking at her for her reaction.

"Huh. I think you should at least call him. I mean unless you're too scared to even do that."

"I'm not scared!" I said to her, "Look I'll do both. I'll call him on our way to the airport, and I'll leave a note on my door just in case I miss him."

Lula still didn't seem to appreciate my plan, but she didn't argue, so I taped the note to the door of my apartment on the way out and I tried calling him on his cell in the car. Unfortunately, he didn't answer his cell. And I didn't really think it was necessary to leave him a message.

"He didn't answer," I told Lula. "I'll just try calling him again later."

The flight was uneventful and there was a man waiting for us just like Tank had said when we arrived. He was wearing black cargo pants and a black Rangeman shirt, the classic Rangeman uniform. He was about 6'4" and almost as big as Tank. His face had a bit of a boyish look to it and was covered in freckles and his hair was pumpkin orange. He introduced himself as Mike Cameron and said he was there to help us in any way possible.

Mike was driving a black Ford Explorer that appeared to be brand new. He took us to our hotel to check in and then asked us what our mission in Florida was.

Lula and I filled him in on what he done so far to try to locate Jesse and I asked him if I could use a search program to look up the number Paul Bruner had given us.

"I've been told to give you access to any Rangeman equipment you want. I'm even supposed to clear out an apartment for you at Rangeman if you request a place to stay," he said. "I have some search programs that are available on my laptop. One of those should be able to give us an address for this number, or if you need something more in depth we could go to Rangeman."

"Right now I think we would just need an address for this number," I said.

Mike got on his laptop and found us an address. "This call came from the Plaza Beach Hotel in Miami. It's a pretty hi-end place. It looks like the call came from the lobby. Do you want me to take you there?" he asked.

"Not yet," I said. "It's not likely that he would be still hanging in the lobby and we don't even know if he was staying in the hotel. Maybe we should try to locate the person he came to see. His girlfriend thought he might be coming to meet with Richard Alvarado. He supposedly was always getting calls from him and frequently doing some sort of business with him in Miami."

"If Sanchez is in business with Alvarado, it can't be anything good. Alvarado is well known in Miami for his dealings with just about anything illegal," Mike said.

"What you mean like gangs and drugs and shit?" asked Lula.

"I mean like drugs, stealing, prostitution, guns, or anything he can do to make money," answered Mike.

"How come nothing came up on the criminal history check then?" I asked.

"Because he's never been caught, at least not to the point of prosecution, but anyone who has spent any time on the street knows about Alvarado and what he's involved in. I don't think Tank would appreciate me letting you guys get involved in something with Alvarado, at least not without getting more of a team together."

"How come when I asked Ranger about Alvarado he didn't mention any of this?" I asked

"Ranger's not really a talkative guy. He doesn't really share much about what he is thinking unless he is giving you an order. He keeps a lot of things to himself," replied Mike.

No shit I thought.

"Hold on, "said Lula defensively. "It's not like Stephanie is like some nuisance to Ranger. They are like a kind of team, sometimes like lovers. I'm sure he shares all kinds of things with her that he wouldn't just share with one of his employee's."

"Lula!" I said glaring at her. Mike was looking more than a little bit nervous.

"You're Ranger's girl, the one that they always talk about. The one he always threatens the New Jersey team about, saying they better keep her safe. I thought I was just doing some sort of favor for Tank. Does Ranger know you are here?" Mike was starting to get a bit panicky.

I glared at Lula some more, then gave Mike my most convincing reassuring smile. "It's okay Mike. I'm not really Ranger's girl, more like he's my mentor. And no one is going to do anything risky here so there's no need to worry. We're just here to catch Jesse Sanchez and with your help there should be no problems."

"But aren't you like known for getting into trouble. Haven't you blown up over a hundred cars and been threatened dozens of times. Are you telling me that you came down here on this case that might have something to do with Richard Alvarado and Ranger doesn't know about it? And I'm responsible for your safety. Oh shit. I'm totally fucked. Ranger will kill me or at least make me wish I was dead. That guy scares the shit out of me when he's mad. How could Tank get me mixed up in this? We have to go to Rangeman right now and we are going to call Ranger and tell him what is going on."

"Whoa, Mike, slow down," I said. "I'm not going to Rangeman and you are not going to tell Ranger. If you tell Ranger I'll go off and talk to Alvarado on my own and that would probably just make Ranger even madder. So let's just calm down and try to figure out the best way to solve all this and no one is calling Ranger."

"Shit. Look you can't do this to me. I really like this job, and it was really hard to get. You can't put me in this kind of position. I heard what happened that time when you stunned the man in the elevator and he was supposed to keep you from leaving Rangeman. I'm not going to do desk duty and monitors for six months and I'm not going to fight Ranger."

"Okay then let's make a deal, you help us track down Sanchez and I will let you stay with us the whole time and listen to your suggestions about our safety. Give us 48 hours without contacting Ranger. If we haven't got Sanchez by then I'll let you contact him. And either way I'll explain to Ranger that we sort of made you do this," I offered.

"I don't know. Alvarado's a dangerous man. What if you get threatened or hurt, or worse? No I can't risk it," he said shaking his head.

"Look I was serious about leaving you and going on my own. How about if I agree to let you contact him if we get threatened by anyone while trying to locate him?" I offered staring him down.

He stared at me for a long moment. I'm not really sure what he was looking to see, but I didn't budge. "Shit," he said."I know I'm going to regret this. I am timing this from now, you have exactly 48 hours and any threats, even the hint of a threat and we call Ranger"

"Deal" I said sticking out my hand. He shook it while rolling his eyes.

"Ok now what? We still gotta make some sort of a plan here," said Lula. "Plus I'm getting hungry."

"Yeah I'll order us a pizza, then we can talk about an idea I have," Mike said. I was beginning to think he was a kindred spirit.

Over dinner Mike explained that he could call in a contact he had with one of Alvarado's men. He would find out how we could get into a meeting with Alvarado. We would all three meet with Alvarado in Rangeman uniforms. He also insisted that we would all be armed. We would explain the truth to Alvarado. That we were looking for Jesse because he missed court and that we had reason to believe he was in Miami doing business with him. According to Mike, Alvarado was usually more than willing to turn over one of his men to law enforcement to avoid having any negative dealings with them. He would always claim he had no idea of their activities. Apparently Alvarado had no loyalty to the people he did business with.

Mike believed that Alvarado would probably respond one of three ways. He might tell us how to get in touch with Jesse and basically hand him to us, which is what we obviously hoped for. He could threaten us and tell us to stay out, or he might just try to kill us. This is why we were going in armed and dressed in Rangeman gear. Apparently Rangeman had a lot of clout in Miami, and Mike didn't think Alvarado would want to be held responsible for killing three Rangeman employees.

Lula and I agreed to the plan. It's certainly not like we had any alternative plans of our own. Mike really appeared to know his stuff. He suggested that I try to contact Sandy Bruner, while he called his contact to try to get us a meeting. He wanted me to see if she had heard anything else from Jesse and to have her call me if she did hear from him.

"I tried calling Sandy and got her voicemail so I left her a message giving her my cell number," I reported to him.

"Ok," he said,"My guy got us set up for an early lunch meeting with Alvarado. We will be meeting him at 11:00 am. This is good; it's in a public place so he probably won't be trying to kill us at the meeting."

"Great, that means tonight we can see the sites. I bet you got some great clubs here in Miami, let's go out on the town. Or maybe go to the beach or something," suggested Lula. "I'm getting restless."

"No, tonight we keep clear heads and we rest for tomorrow. This is not negotiable. You need to be preparing yourselves for tomorrow. We aren't going into this meeting tired or with a hang over," responded Mike.

"Huh" huffed Lula.

"I'm going to call and have a cot sent up to your room. There's no way I'm leaving you here and letting anything happen on my watch. I'm in enough trouble as it is," said Mike.

We ended up paying for in the room pay-per-view and then turning in that night. The next morning Mike went out to get us donuts and coffee. I really was starting to like this guy.

"Shouldn't you be eating healthy junk and exercising while we eat these donuts? Aren't you worried that this stuff will kill you?" I asked. Hey I'm a curious person.

He looked at me for a minute and then smiled."You really do spend a lot of time with Ranger. I just make sure I exercise enough to keep in shape. And I try to eat something healthy now and then."

Mike had had Rangeman uniforms and loaded utility belts delivered to the hotel room for Lula and me.

"Girl this is the best vacation ever. I've always wanted one of these uniforms. I can keep it right Mike? I'd like to see what Tank thinks about seeing me in one of these. I look like a bad ass," said Lula.

Mike seemed to be a little bit frightened at the thought of Lula seducing Tank in the uniform. "Keep it," he said and I'm pretty sure I saw him shudder.

We left for the restaurant at 10:30 and arrived on time. We decided the night before that I would do most of the talking since I had the most knowledge about Jesse. Lula and Mike would be there acting as back up. We asked for Alvarado's table and learned that he had already arrived. We sat at the square table; I sat across from Alvarado and introduced all three of us.

"So Ms. Plum, what is it that I can do for you?" asked Alvarado very politely.

"We have reason to believe that you have had some recent business with a man we are looking for. Do you know Jesse Sanchez?" I asked. Alvarado did not have any visible reaction to the mention of this name.

"And what is it that you are needing from this Mr. Sanchez?" he asked taking a sip of water.

"Mr. Sanchez was recently released on bond for some charges in Trenton, New Jersey. He was bonded out by Vincent Plum Bail Bonds and failed to appear for court," I explained.

"Ah," he said, "so you are bounty hunters. I suspected this much. I have heard of this Rangeman Company you work for. They are mostly in security, yes?"

I nodded.

"Well, Ms. Plum," he continued, "I regret to inform you that I am unable to help you at this time. I will also tell you that your own security may be at risk if you continue in the pursuit of Mr. Sanchez."

"Are you saying you don't know where Mr. Sanchez is, or just that you won't help us?" I asked.

"I am saying that this meeting is over Ms. Plum. I am a very busy man, so please do not pester me with this ridiculous conversation any longer. I do not like to repeat myself," he said staring at me coldly. "Shall I have my men escort you out?" he asked.

"That won't be necessary," answered Mike and he pulled us up to leave.

"What was that about?" I asked when we were out of ear shot. "We didn't get any answers, I might could of pressed him some more."

"He had already threatened you Steph, we don't want to make him any angrier. This counts by the way. I'm calling in on our deal. We are going to Rangeman and calling Ranger," he said.

I was just about to protest, when I felt a warm, familiar hand on the back of my neck.

"It's a little late for that Cameron"

**AN: I am really having a lot of fun writing this. I hope at least some of you are enjoying reading it. Please review and let me know if you want me to keep going. Lissa**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Ok so I know I just posted a chapter a few hours ago, but I couldn't sleep and I decided I might as well put my insomnia to good use. I really hope you guys are having as much fun reading this as I am writing it. Please let me know either way. I love getting feedback.**

**Electric 13 Chapter 10**

Lula and Mike both turned to face who I knew to be Ranger. They paled when they saw him, so I'm guessing he didn't look happy.

"Take Lula, back to their hotel Cameron. Stay with her there until you receive further instructions. Call Rangeman if you have any problems," ordered Ranger.

Cameron and Lula both left quickly without saying a word. Ranger was leading me in another direction with his hand still resting on my neck. I still wasn't looking at him. I knew Ranger wasn't going to try to hurt me, but I also knew he was really angry. Anger seemed to be radiating out of him.

He led me to a new black Mercedes. I guess Ranger had great cars in Miami too. He opened the passenger door and I got in still not looking at him. He got in on the driver's side and drove away in silence.

He was in his zone and I could still feel the anger. I really wanted to know where we were going, but I was sort of scared to start any kind of a conversation, so I stayed quiet. On the way I started wondering how Ranger had found out where I was. Is he really some sort of Super hero? Tank told me once that Ranger new everything, but how does he do it. I had finally decided that he must have had some sort of bug on me somewhere, maybe my phone or my purse or something, when we pulled up to a parking garage, attached to a large multiple story red brick building. There wasn't any type of sign on the building stating what it was, so I was assuming we were at Rangeman Miami.

Ranger used a key fob and heavy metal door lifted allowing us entrance to a two story level garage. He parked the car and walked around and led me out of the car. He placed his hand on the back of my neck again and it felt warm and tingly. He wasn't forcing me or grabbing me, but I still felt that it would not be a good idea to try to get away. He led me to an elevator and inserted a key under the button for floor 9.

The elevator opened into an entry way similar to his apartment in New Jersey. Ranger unlocked the door and I entered into a very large and open room. The room was a large carpeted living area that opened up into a kitchen and dining area. It was all decorated in warm earth tones and even had a few fake plants. It had a large flat screen television on one wall and a big comfy looking sofa with a coffee table in front.

Ranger went to the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge. He handed me one and then he sat on the couch. I glanced up briefly at his face.

He was very angry. It radiated in his eyes and in the set of his jaw. I looked back down at the ground and then went to sit at the opposite end of his couch.

I felt him turn to face me, but I still didn't look up.

"Do you want to tell me, why you ran away from me?" he asked in a very quite tone.

"I wasn't running from you Ranger. I had a job to do," I replied.

"Why didn't you call me? Why are you here using my men and my resources, but you won't call me for help? Why did you skip out on our date?"

"I tried to call you," I said, "And I left you a note at my apartment. "

I think I heard Ranger taking deep breaths, but I can't be sure.

"How did you find out I was here?" I asked.

"My men are not accustomed to lying to me Babe. Did you really think I would not find out?" he said still in his quiet tone.

"I am sorry for using your men and resources without you knowing Ranger. I just wanted to try to find Sanchez and I knew I couldn't find him alone in Miami."

"Why didn't you ask me Babe?" he asked almost sounding hurt.

"I think I just needed some space. I wasn't ready to be rejected by you again, and I wasn't ready to face the conversation about us."

"Babe"

This made my eyes tear up, he didn't sound angry anymore and I knew we were about to talk about us. He traced his fingers down the side of my cheek and then used his thumb to wipe away a stray tear.

"Why did you think I would reject you Babe?"

"Because that's what you did before Ranger. What am I supposed to expect? Last time we slept together you ended up sending me back to Morelli. Well I broke up with Morelli for good this time. So if you send me away now, it's just me Ranger. We obviously have some sort of feelings for each other, but I honestly don't know what it means. How am I supposed to live like this? I can't just be around for you to sleep with when it's convenient. I like sex too, but I need for it to mean something to you. If I don't mean enough to you, then maybe I'm better on my own."

He didn't say anything to this, and after a few moments I dared to look up at him. There was a lot of emotion in his eyes and he was studying me. I had no idea what he was thinking and it made me very nervous.

"I'm sorry Babe. I should have never sent you back to Morelli. I-I'm just sorry." I could hear the emotion in his voice and I've never heard him like this. I didn't even think he was capable of stammering.

Now I was really crying. He pulled me to him, and I let him. He lifted me on his lap and I was sobbing into his chest and he was stroking my hair.

"Shh Babe," he soothed, "I'm here and I'm not going to send you away."

After I'd managed to calm myself down some I asked him, "What does this mean Ranger? I mean what are we now?"

"What do you want us to be Babe?"

"Well, are you still against relationships?"

"Babe, I'm here and I'm not letting you go. I would say this qualifies as some type of relationship," he said.

"Ok so what you're willing to be like a boyfriend now? What has changed?" I asked.

He seemed to be considering this before responding, "I have. When Julie was kidnapped last year I realized that distancing myself from the people I care about doesn't make anyone safer? I also realized that if you really loved Morelli and wanted that life style that you would be with him. But Babe I need for you to understand that I'm no good at this. There are still lots of things you don't know about me. Things you may not want to know. I want you Babe, and I'm willing to try. But if we are in this, then we are in it." He paused and used his finger to lift my chin, forcing me to look up at him. "That means no more running away Babe. If you have a problem with me or with anything we talk about it. Neither of us runs."

I looked down again and nodded."So does this mean you are going to open up to me, and tell me things?" I asked.

"I'm going to try Babe, but this is not something I'm used to. I'll need for you to be patient with me," he said rubbing his fingers up and down my arms.

"Are you going to try to make me eat salad all the time and go running with you?" I asked.

This got a small laugh, "I have no delusions about having that kind of power over you. I do hope that you will understand that being in a relationship with me, may make things more dangerous for you. I won't be able to focus if you don't take precautions to make sure you're safe." At this point I got a little bit tense, I don't like being followed or locked up. "I don't mean that I'm going to always lock you away against your will or assign 24 hour body guards," he continued. "I just mean that you need to be honest with me about any threats, and let me help you when you are in danger. I'm not going to try to control you. I just want to help you and make sure you are safe."

"I can try to live with that," I said and he gave me a light squeeze. "So I guess we are going to try this. You're even ok with people calling you my boyfriend?" I asked.

"Yeah, Babe, I am, as long as you're ok with being my girlfriend."

I smiled up at him and said, "So what's for lunch? I'm starved." He returned my smile. 

Ranger only had a few healthy things to eat in his apartment, so we decided to go out for lunch. He took me to a nearby Mexican food restaurant, which suited me since I never got a chance to eat at the meeting with Alvarado. I ordered a plate of chicken enchiladas and he got some sort of boring salad. I had tea and he had water. I chowed down on the chips and salsa; he had one or two chips. We definitely had different eating habits, but he had already sworn to not make it an issue.

I filled him in on what had happened so far in our search for Jesse and about how this led us to Alvarado.

"How come you didn't tell me about Alvarado when I mentioned him before?" I asked.

"We didn't know yet if Jesse was involved with him. I was going to have a man here look into it to see what they could find out. And you indicated to me that you thought Jesse would be returning to Trenton and his family. I never expected for you to fly to Miami and confront Alvarado," he responded.

"Oh," I said.

After lunch Ranger drove us to Lula's and my hotel. He asked Lula if she wanted to stay and continue helping with the case, or if she wanted to return to Trenton. She looked at me before responding so I told her that it was totally up to her.

"I think I wanna go on home then. I'm anxious to see Tank's reaction to me in this uniform," she said.

Ranger raised his eyebrow at this.

"Mike said I could keep this uniform," she said frowning. "You aren't going to make me give it back are you?"

I noticed that Mike was looking somewhat nervous at the mention of his involvement.

"Keep the uniform," Ranger said to Lula, "but you'll need to return the weapons before going to the airport, or you won't make it past security."

Lula seemed satisfied with this.

Ranger then turned to Mike to give him some orders. "Take Lula to the air port and make sure she gets through security. Then I want you to do some surveillance on Alvarado. Tail him and see if you find out if he's currently involved in any suspicious activity involving jewelry. Take Ryan with you and report anything you find out to me. Lula," he said turning to her, "I'm going to call Tank and tell him you are heading home. You will need to call him and let him know when your flight will be arriving so that he can pick you up at the airport."

Mike and Lula nodded and started gathering their things. I packed up my things too, because Ranger had already requested that I stay at Rangeman for security purposes, of course I was hoping this wasn't the only reason he wanted me to stay at Rangeman. We all checked out of the hotel and Ranger and I headed back to his car.

"So what is our plan now?" I asked him.

"You should check in with Sandy Bruner and see if she has heard anything, then we will go and talk with a few people I know who might be able to enlighten us about Alvarado's recent activities," Ranger said.

I dialed Sandy's number from my cell and she picked up.

"Hello," she said in a quiet voice.

"Sandy, its Stephanie Plum, is everything all right"

"Have you found Jesse yet?" she asked sounding desperate.

"No Sandy, but we are still looking. I was hoping that you might have heard from him since I last spoke with you," I replied.

"He did call me yesterday," she said. "He sounded worried. He told me that he had to disappear for a while, and that he couldn't tell me why. He told me I shouldn't tell anyone that he called not even my father. I tried to get him to give me a clue about where he was or where he was going, but he just said he didn't have time for my questions and that he loved us and then he hung up."

"Did you tell your father that he called?" I asked her.

"No, I haven't told anyone but you."

"Do you think that your father knows what is going on with Jesse, like why he might be hiding out for a while?" I asked.

"I don't know. Maybe," she replied. "He is acting really strange. He keeps calling or coming by and asking if we are ok and if we have heard from Jesse. He even tried to talk me into staying with him for a while, but I told him that I needed to be home in case Jesse did try to contact me. Johnny wanted to stay with him, he loves visiting his grandfather, so I let him go with him for a few days. I did ask if he knew anything and he said of course he didn't know anything that could explain why Jesse would be gone so long."

"Ask her if anyone else has been asking her questions about Jesse," Ranger said.

"Sandy, has anyone else been in contact with you to ask about Jesse?" I asked.

"No," she said, "Just you and my father. Please find him Stephanie, I am really getting worried."

"I am going to keep trying Sandy. I need for you to let me know if you hear anything else at all from or about Jesse, ok? And call me if anyone else comes around asking questions about him. I have my cell phone so contact me that way."

"Ok Stephanie, I will" she said.

I filled Ranger in on the part of the conversation that he didn't hear. "So do you think Paul Bruner is somehow involved in what is happening with Jesse?" I asked him

"It sounds like he at least knows something, but it's hard to say what his involvement is," he shrugged. "Maybe if we don't have any more luck in our search here we will return to Trenton and both go talk to him."

We spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening talking to Ranger's contacts about Alvarado. We didn't gain a whole lot of information. No one had heard of Jesse Sanchez. One of the informants had heard something recently about Alvarado smuggling in some stolen jewels from Europe, but he didn't have any details about it, and said that he didn't even know if it was true. Alvarado it appeared was very good at keeping things secret.

Mike and Ryan hadn't really seen much either. They reported that Alvarado went to a few meetings in the afternoon and then returned to his home. They didn't see any suspicious activity. Ranger said that Alvarado probably suspected that we would be watching him and he was probably going to keep an especially low profile. He had men doing continued surveillance just in case.

We stopped to get some take out Chinese and then returned to Ranger's apartment. We both ate quietly. I assumed Ranger was thinking about the case or some Rangeman business. I had worked up an appetite and was focused on my food. After I finished I looked up to find Ranger's eyes on me.

"What?" I asked feeling self conscious.

He didn't say anything. He just took our plates to the sink and then grabbed my hands and pulled me up. He lowered his lips to mine and started kissing me hard. His hands were on my neck and in my hair, and then I could feel him moving one hand down my back, then under my shirt. I was kissing him back and pulling him closer to me. I ran my fingers through his hair and grabbed his shirt. He started pushing me back towards what I assumed was the bedroom. He never stopped touching me. He started kissing me down my neck slow and hard, while his hands crept up my shirt. I scratched my hands down his back and started pulling his shirt out of his pants. Then my phone started to ring.

We stopped and just looked at each other as we both considered whether or not to answer it.

"Get it, "Ranger finally said, and I noticed his voice had a slight growl to it, "It might be Sandy."

"It's Joe," I said as I reached my phone. Could he have planned to call at such a lousy time?

"What is it Joe?" I asked, not really caring that I wasn't being very polite.

"Stephanie, how do you know Sandy Bruner?" he asked, sounding irritated.

"She's the girlfriend of one of my skips. Why?" I asked

"One of your current skips?" he asked.

"Yes, Joe" I replied, "Are you going to tell me what is going on here? How did you even know that I knew her?"

"Shit, I was afraid of this. When did you last speak with her?"

"Maybe about five or six hours ago. How did you know I knew her Joe?"

"Your card was on her refrigerator. Look Steph are you working this skip alone?"

"No, "I said glancing at Ranger.

"Is Ranger with you now?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Hand him the phone Stephanie."

"No Joe, you just tell me what is going here. What are you doing at Sandy's? How did you know about my card?" I demanded.

"Cupcake, Sandy's dead. She was strangled in her home."

I sat down on the couch and handed the phone to Ranger.


End file.
